Publication Date:
2019-07-13
Description:
Three flux ropes associated with near-Earth magnetotail reconnection are analyzed using Magnetospheric Multiscale observations. The flux ropes are Earthward propagating with sizes from 3 to 11 ion inertial lengths. Significantly different axial orientations are observed, suggesting spatiotemporal variability in the reconnection and/or flux rope dynamics. An electron-scale vortex, associated with one of the most intense electric fields (E) in the event, is observed within one of the flux ropes. This E is predominantly perpendicular to the magnetic field (B); the electron vortex is frozen-in with E B drifting electrons carrying perpendicular current and causing a small-scale magnetic enhancement. The vortex is 16 electron gyroradii in size perpendicular to B and potentially elongated parallel to B. The need to decouple the frozen-in vortical motion from the surrounding plasma implies a parallel E at the structure's ends. The formation of frozen-in electron vortices within reconnection-generated flux ropes may have implications for particle acceleration.
Keywords:
Plasma Physics
Type:
GSFC-E-DAA-TN61761
,
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 1944-8007); 45; 17; 8783-8792
Format:
text
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